Mr. Valco Services

My name is Terry Dobbs (a.k.a. “Mr. Valco”), and I have been collecting, repairing and restoring tube amps for 22 years and have owned or repaired just about any amp you can think of including: Fender Tweed, Blackface and Silverface, nearly any Valco built amp ever made including National Dobro, Ampeg, Gibson, Guild, Hiwatt, Marshall, Sound City, Magnatone Silvertone Danelectro….. you name it and I’ve probably owned one, played one or had one on my bench for repair. I have also been a guitar player for over 40 years and as a player who performs on a regular basis, I understand how amps perform in “Real World Gig Conditions” as opposed to just sounding good at lower volumes around the house. So every amp that comes here for service, repair or tweaking is always “Guitar Tested” to make sure that it meets that standard. I offer custom amp builds, using my own circuits or other public domain circuits on a customer request basis. I use vintage correct parts whenever possible, and carry in stock: tubes, transformers, carbon comp resistors, tube sockets and most any part needed to get your amp in top shape and back to spec. I don’t recone speakers, or carry new replacements here, but can normally get them in quickly if needed. I also use several reconing services, including WeberVST and Neals Speaker Service to get your old tired stock speaker sounding the way it is supposed to if it’s required.

There are alot of people today who do tube amp work – why send your amp to us? With 20 years of experience and not only an ear for what your tube amp should sound like and how it should perform, I also try to get to the core of what you are expecting from your amp. The more details I can get from you, for instance, what type of music you play, what guitars you use, style of music, size of venue you normally play at, things you are looking for in an amp, and the things you are NOT looking for, the better I can tweak your amp to make it better suited for your needs.

Some amps give you more room to tweak than others and this is where experience really counts. The wrong tweak in the wrong amp and problems happen – like oscillations at frequencies you can’t hear,motorboating, ghost notes etc. I don’t do “hole-drilling hack mods” for anyone – these old amps will be around long after most of us are gone, and any tweak made is done with respect for this. If your amp does get a tone tweak, it will be with the above considerations in mind and can be put back to stock easily in the future if that desire should arise. I also do strict “to the schematic” repair and restoration work for those who want their collectables to remain true to their vintage specs. I get many here for repair that have had work done elsewhere, and due to “misunderstandings” or a “previous effort to make your Valco sound like a Fender” need to be professionally restored.

Shop Rates

Standard rate is $60/hr. Inspection and diagnosis is a flat $50. I will look over your amp when it arrives and e-mail or call you with what I find and what repairs are needed. The $50 will go towards the repair cost if you elect to have the amp repaired here.

Get the best your amp has to offer and consider sending it here for your tube amp servicing or repair. For more information or to send an amp for repair, contact me today.

My Ebay Store

Check out my Valco auctions on Ebay. Don’t miss a chance to get some well-serviced amps and rare Valco parts. My seller name is muddobber5.